Greek current account surplus widens in July, tourism revenues rise

Reuters Staff

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ATHENS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Greece's current account surplus
rose in July compared to the same month a year ago due to a
stronger services balance and a smaller income account deficit,
the Bank of Greece said on Wednesday.
The data showed the surplus at 1.569 billion euros ($1.88
billion) from 1.356 million euros in July 2016. Tourism revenues
rose to 2.93 billion euros from 2.77 billion in the same month a
year earlier.
"A year-on-year rise of 249 million euros in the surplus of
the services balance is due to an improvement in all its main
components, most importantly in the travel balance, the surplus
of which widened by 169 million," the Bank of Greece said.
In July foreign arrivals and the corresponding revenues rose
by 10.2 and 5.3 percent respectively year-on-year, the central
bank said.
"The improvement in the primary income account is
attributable, primarily, to lower net interest, dividend and
profit payments," the central bank said.
In 2016 as a whole, Greece had a current account deficit of
1.1 billion euros versus a surplus of 206 million in 2015 as a
result of a lower services balance surplus.
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CURRENT ACCOUNT (bln euros) 2017 2016
January -0.271 -0.771
February -0.937 -0.828
March -1.324 -0.772
April -0.462 -0.872
May -0.582 -0.457
June +0.842 +0.910
July +1.569 +1.356
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* revised
source: Bank of Greece
($1 = 0.8331 euros)
(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos)